The role of local universities in the dissemination of social innovations: the case of the municipal district of Quito

Local knowledge helps generate social innovations. Universities, which are part of the territorial innovation system, are important in creating innovations, but their role in diffusing social innovations is less well known. The social policies established in Ecuador have given rise to different social innovations. In particular, the metropolitan district of Quito, based on the metropolitan development plan from 2012 to 2022, has generated a process of social innovations of great interest. Local universities usually participate in the training process of the agents involved in the development of social innovation. In a complementary way, local universities can facilitate cooperation between these agents. Both are essential elements in the diffusion of innovation. This paper analyzes the importance of collaboration with universities to disseminate social innovations in the Metropolitan District of Quito, using a series of interviews. The results indicate that the lack of collaboration with the universities and the limited knowledge that exists in them hampered the practical development of the plan and its effectiveness.

Decoding (Sub)Urban-Rural Fragmentation Processes

The spatial complexity of metropolitan territories is the result of the accumulation of various forms of urban and infrastructural development, some of which can be characterized as being based on a fragmentary mode of production. The chapter aims at building an empirical approach to a broader discussion regarding spatial fragmentation as part of metropolitan territorial development using an example on an important suburban territory in the Lisbon metropolitan area (Portugal). As such, it will provide a conceptual review of contemporary urban and morphological approaches to metropolization and the issue of urban-rural relationships, an overview of Lisbon's metropolitan development and the specific changes identified in the case study, the overview and results of morphological analysis regarding land subdivision processes, and a discussion on a design-oriented description of territorial components with potential to reinforce the spatial synergies of urban fabrics, infrastructures, and open space.

Transformasi Wilayah Kepulauan di Metropolitan Jakarta

Jakarta Metropolitan Area (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, South Tangerang and Bekasi) has experienced rapid development, especially in the past 30 years. Jakarta Metropolitan Development has triggered conversion of agricultural land to urban areas and the development of settlements, especially in the periphery areas. Numerous studies have discussed how the process of transformation of peripheral areas located in the mainland region. However, there is still limited research which discusses the transformation of Kepulauan Seribu Regency, as one of the periphery of Jakarta metropolitan. This study aims to identify the process of regional transformation in Kepulauan Seribu Regency and elaborating on its role of as a periphery of Jakarta Metropolitan Area as well as limitations of regional development in Kepulauan Seribu Regency as an archipelagic region. The study used qualitative method by using a secondary data and literature studies. This study found that the transformation process in Kepulauan Seribu Regency has not occurred significantly, but an indication of the transformation of Kepulauan Seribu Regency as a tourism-based trade and service area has been identified. On the other hand, limited access and land oriented policies are some of the things that could make the transformation of this area would not as rapid as other periphery in the mainland.

Envisioning the Accessibility Shift

This concluding chapter highlights the importance of accessibility in transportation planning. Three logics contend for status as transportation planning's conceptual core: mobility, vehicle-kilometers-traveled (VKT) reduction, and accessibility. The transportation-planning field began in the first half of the twentieth century with a mobility orientation. By the end of the century, many planners and researchers had shifted to VKT reductions as the implicit lodestone of progressive action in transportation and land use, a goal that, by the twenty-first century, made its way into some formal policies—though the mobility paradigm remained dominant overall. This book argues for a logic distinct from both of these: an accessibility shift to align transportation and land-use planning with transportation's core purpose. Notwithstanding the challenges it faces in the form of invisibility, accessibility is the only reliable indicator, among the three contenders, of the benefits offered by transportation. This renders both mobility and VKT reduction inadequate as transportation planning's central logic, an inadequacy that can lead to perverse outcomes. The existing mobility paradigm molds transportation and land-use planning at multiple levels and geographic scales and demonstrably shapes metropolitan development. This power suggests that the accessibility shift similarly holds great potential for altering decisions and ultimately the built environment.